A new global CMO survey found that 93% of marketing leaders say generative AI is now delivering measurable returns. Not hypothetical returns. Actual results.
The experiment phase is over. AI has quietly become a built-in part of the modern marketing workflow.
From Trend to Workflow
The biggest shift isn’t the tools, it’s how teams are using them.
Marketing departments have moved from testing AI to depending on it. Copy.ai is writing ad variations before lunch. ChatGPT is generating keyword clusters. Jasper and Canva’s Magic Studio are building content calendars that execute themselves.
It’s not a novelty anymore. It’s infrastructure.
By 2026, marketing teams that are still “experimenting” with automation will be chasing those already running fully optimized, AI-assisted workflows.
The Return Comes from Volume
The return on investment doesn’t come from the first piece of AI-assisted content—it comes from the next fifty.
Generative tools are accelerating throughput. They eliminate the bottlenecks between strategy and publishing.
Example:
A marketing team trains an AI model on its highest-performing blog posts. Within an hour, they have several email drafts, multiple LinkedIn posts, and a full YouTube script ready for review.
That’s measurable ROI: less time spent, more ideas shipped, greater consistency across channels.